In Part I of this article, we found that viewing your home as a prospective buyer is vital for deciding what to spruce up before putting your home on the market.

But how can a seller decide if major efforts like repainting the interior are important to the sale and/or if finishing that basement would bring a higher selling price?

The answer for these tougher questions is, it depends---on how severe or distracting the problem is as well as whether you can recoup the cost in the sale.

For example, if interior paint is worn and/or peeling, the answer is a resounding “yes” to repainting since it’s proportionately little effort and cost for potentially large rewards. If repainting, the two rooms to focus on first are the kitchen and the bathroom. These rooms have a higher priority for cleanliness and showing well so make sure the walls sparkle here first!

If you do decide to repaint, it’s wise to go with a neutral color. In the home selling industry, it’s referred to as “real estate beige”. Even though you’re crazy about chartreuse, potential buyers may be turned off by the time and money it will take to undo your selection. Be on the safe side---stay with neutral colors like creme, beige, and off white.

What about making major cosmetic improvements before putting your house on the market? This is a tougher question to answer. But your best source of information here may be a real estate agent. He or she will prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) on your property, comparing your house to others like it (similar amenities, neighborhood, etc.) that have sold recently.

This can help you decide if putting money into new flooring or completing an unfinished basement will help the property sell. And if you did make the repair or improvement, could you recoup your costs in the market value you’d receive. This type of professional information can help you sidestep financial missteps and give your home market advantage.

Once your home is spruced up and ready for showing, it’s important that the house be easy to view. This requires that you move piles of old magazines, stacked books and papers in order to make rooms feel spacious and pathways between rooms free-flowing.

The rule of thumb is “less is better than more.” This means taking clutter off dressers, take excess books off shelves, etc. And since you’ll be moving anyway, think of this as an advance step. If you have collections, such as art or memorabilia, box it up and put it away. Buyers may be tempted to view the collections, taking their attention away from the home. And if the items are valuable, displaying them could tempt fate.

There’s one last step prior to prospective buyers viewing your home. YOU need to go outside, approach the front door, and tour your home, scrutinizing it as buyers will. Be on the lookout for areas that need last minute paint touch ups or cleaning---anything that could detract from your home looking its best.

While it’s tough putting in the time and elbow grease necessary to properly prepare your home for sale, it is worth it. Visualize yourself depositing that equity check in the bank after closing and all your hard work will pale by comparison!

Part I of this article

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Published: March 3, 2000

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Julie Garton-Good, DREI “The Frugal HomeOwner™” As a syndicated newspaper columnist, author and international speaker, Julie Garton-Good DREI, C-CREC™, is called “America’s Home Affordability Expert”, addressing more than 25,000 persons annually on topics of real estate industry trends and home affordability. She is the author of five real estate books and is the sole two-time recipient of the international "Real Estate Educator of the Year" award from the Real Estate Educators Association. In 1997, The National Association of Realtors® nominated Julie as one of the fifty most influential people in the real estate industry. She shared the list with only three other women.